Soul Photo Net -- Photoblog / Weblog

International

Tuesday, September 23, 2008

New York City Darfur Events - September 24 & 25

NYC Darfur Events - September 24 & 25

Dear
Darfur Supporter,

We are
pleased to invite you to two events that will place needed
pressure on United Nations member states during the U.N. General
Assembly. These events will focus on the International Criminal
Count, UNAMID peacekeepers, and ending the arms trade that
allows the genocide to continue with impunity.

China: No More Arms to
Sudan!

September 24, 2008

12:00 p.m.

Chinese Mission to the United Nations

350 East 35th Street

New York, NY 10016

The
Olympics are over, but the fact remains: China continues to
underwrite the genocide in Darfur. In October, China takes over
the presidency of the United Nations Security Council. In this
leadership position, we can’t let China off the hook. Join AJWS
and Darfur advocacy partners for a protest highlighting China’s
almost exclusive sale of small arms to Sudan and calling for an
expanded UN arms embargo on Sudan. Events will be coordinated in
four other cities across the country.
href="http://action.savedarfur.org/ct/5pMjcwp17cHu/">To
participate in this important action please sign up
now.Sponsored by American Jewish World
Service.

cellpadding=3>

No More Delays in Darfur: Peacekeepers and
Justice Now!

Close the
gap between promises and reality: Call on the United Nations to
honor its commitment to protect the people of Darfur.

The Save Darfur Coalition is an
alliance of over 180 faith-based, advocacy and human rights organizations whose
mission is to raise public awareness about the ongoing genocide in Darfur and to
mobilize a unified response to the atrocities that threaten the lives of more
than two million people in the Darfur region. To learn more, please visit http://www.SaveDarfur.org.

It accuses France of training Hutu militias responsible for the slaughter, helping plan the genocide, and participating in the killings.

“French forces directly assassinated Tutsis and Hutus accused of hiding Tutsis… French forces committed several rapes on Tutsi survivors,” said a statement from the justice ministry cited by AFP news agency.

“Considering the seriousness of the alleged crimes, the Rwandan government has urged the relevant authorities to bring the accused French politicians and military officials to justice,” the statement said.

It further alleged that French forces did nothing to challenge checkpoints used by Hutu forces in the genocide.

“They clearly requested that the Interahamwes contine to man those checkpoints and kill Tutsis attempting to flee,” it said.

The BBC’s Geoffrey Mutagoma in the Rwandan capital, Kigali, says the commission spent nearly two years investigating France’s alleged role in the genocide.

It heard testimonies from genocide survivors, researchers, writers and reporters.

The 500-page document was presented to the Rwanda’s government last November, but was not made public until now.

Rwanda has repeatedly accused France of arming and training the Hutu militias that perpetrated the genocide, and of dragging its feet in co-operating with the investigations that followed.

France has maintained that its forces helped protect civilians during a UN-sanctioned mission in Rwanda at the time.

The two countries have had a frosty relationship since 2006 when a French judge implicated Rwandan President Paul Kagame in the downing in 1994 of then-President Juvenal Habyarimana’s plane - an event widely seen as triggering the killings.

President Kagame has always denied the charge.

He says Mr Habyarimana, a Hutu, was killed by Hutu extremists who then blamed the incident on Tutsi rebels to provide the pretext for the genocide.

There are hopeful signs, and your activism has made a profound difference. The recent joint statement on Darfur from Senators Clinton, McCain and Obama was historic - the first time since World War II that presidential rivals have come together on a foreign policy issue.

But the people of Darfur shouldn’t have to weather seven more months of unspeakable atrocities until a new U.S. president takes office. We will continue to demand accountability from the current president, from those who want to be president, and from everyone with the power to address this humanitarian crisis.

Tuesday, June 17, 2008

Please join Dream for Darfur and the Save Darfur Coalition

Please join Dream for Darfur and the Save Darfur Coalition for a nationwide protest against the silence of Olympic corporate sponsors on the Darfur crisis.

On June 20, U.N. World Refugee Day, activists across the country will gather at stores and headquarters of four sponsors of the Beijing Olympics - Coca-Cola, General Electric, Swatch and Volkswagen - and demand that they use their partnership with the Chinese government to help end genocide in Darfur.

What: Spotlight on the Sponsors Day of Action

When: Friday, June 20, 4:30 p.m.

Where: Coca-Cola Co.

711 5th Ave.

New York, NY 10022

The Chinese government has not done enough to help end genocide in Darfur. Yet, as it prepares for the 2008 Olympic Games, the Chinese government is attempting to cloak itself in the Olympic ideals of peace and brotherhood and cover up its failure to act on Darfur.

And the Olympic corporate sponsors have refused to urge China to act.

The corporate sponsors cannot turn a blind eye to genocide. Join us on June 20 and demand that they speak out to China about Darfur.

Thursday, May 15, 2008

Reports are that the government is detaining, torturing and killing Darfuris in and around Khartoum

Violence in Sudan is escalating. The Justice and Equality Movement, a Darfuri rebel group, attacked Khartoum on Saturday in an attempt to topple the Sudanese regime. The government has reportedly stopped the attempt.

In retaliation to the attacks, there is already news of widespread atrocities against Darfuri civilians.

The situation in Darfur is dire. Violence is affecting every aspect of life in Darfur, including food supplies. The U.N. has been forced to cut its food aid shipments in half because its trucks are often hijacked before they get to the people in need.

President Bush must immediately use the full force of American diplomacy to urge all sides to exercise restraint, protect civilians, and to begin a just and inclusive peace process. President Bush must also use the U.S. presidency of the U.N. Security Council in June to ensure full deployment of the UNAMID peacekeeping force for Darfur, and to punish those who attack civilians.

The international community is falling tragically short of our mandate and our moral obligation in Darfur. There is hope, but only if the most powerful actors on the world stage are serious about ending the genocide.

Saturday, April 26, 2008

United Nations World Food Program will cut in half its food supplies to the people of Darfur.

Last week, the United Nations World Food Program announced that it will cut half its food supplies to the people of Darfur because of a lack of funds and relentless attacks on its convoys.

Millions of Darfuris depend on this food supply. Without it, they will be pushed even closer to the knife-sharp edge of starvation.

Inaction is not an option when so many lives are at stake.

Congress is preparing to vote on a bill that will significantly increase funding for humanitarian aid and peacekeeping in Darfur. Your representative needs to hear from you NOW because the men, women, and children of Darfur cannot afford any more delays.

Tell Representative Saxton to support funding for security and humanitarian aid in Darfur.

Additional funding for Darfur can bring hope to the thousands who have weathered half a decade of genocide. It can provide peacekeepers with training and equipment to protect Darfuri civilians. It can deliver disaster and famine assistance to families desperately in need. And it can help the people of Sudan move towards democracy and determine their own path to peace.

We must meet our obligation to the people of Darfur. Congress has the purse strings. You have the voice. Make sure your voice – and the collective voice of hundreds of thousands of Darfuris – is heard.

Urge your representative to stand up for Darfur and fully fund peacekeeping and humanitarian aid.

With the United Nations World Food Program cutting its food aid to Darfur, the clock is ticking faster and louder than ever - we must act quickly to try to fill this crucial gap.

After you have sent a message to your representative, please click here to ask your friends and family to do the same.

Monday, February 04, 2008

The House of Representatives Must Act

Sudanese President Bashir is brashly defying the international community - again. We need the help of China - Sudan’s biggest ally - to put an end to the outrage.

Tell your representative to ask China for help.

What did Sudanese President Bashir do with a world-infamous war criminal? He gave him a promotion.

Bashir has appointed the militia leader who helped orchestrate genocide in Darfur as a senior adviser on ethnic affairs.

This brash and consistent defiance of the U.N. won’t stop - not as long as Bashir has China to protect him.

We must tell China that enough is enough, and our representatives can help. Leaders in Congress are gathering support for an official letter to President Hu of China letting him know that his indifference toward Darfur is unacceptable.

As you know, China is Sudan’s largest trade partner and foreign investor. It is Sudan’s biggest defender in the international community, and it is the regime’s largest arms supplier. But China played a crucial role in getting Sudan to agree to a hybrid peacekeeping force last summer.

Simply put, China has the power to put an end to the games Bashir is playing.

Our representatives must pressure the Chinese government to lead the world community and end the violence in Darfur.

Friday, January 18, 2008

Bobby Fischer, First U.S. World Chess Champion, Dies

Jan. 18 (Bloomberg)—Bobby Fischer, the first U.S.-born chess player to become world champion, died yesterday in Iceland of an unspecified illness, the country’s national radio said. He was 64, and had lived in secrecy and obscurity for decades.

Born in Chicago and raised in New York, Fischer became the youngest U.S. national champion by age 14 and a grandmaster a year later. In 1972, he defeated Russian champion Boris Spassky in a world championship match in Iceland at the height of the Cold War. The game became known as the ``match of the century’’ and his win was a monumental event in a century which saw the sport dominated by Soviet players.

He was the greatest U.S. chess player. ``The gap between Mr. Fischer and his contemporaries was the largest ever,’’ fellow grandmaster Garry Kasparov wrote in the Wall Street Journal in 2004.

Fischer was known for unpredictable tactics at the board, keeping opponents guessing by rarely repeating specific opening strategies during matches, and displaying a genius for attack. He had a reputation for eccentricity and petulance that matched his talents. During the 1972 Spassky match, he constantly demanded changes to tournament conditions and provisions for the players.

Fischer’s victory was followed by two decades of withdrawal from competitive play and he lived as a recluse. The first challenger to his title was Russian Anatoly Karpov in 1975. Fischer eventually boycotted the match, and he lost his title without making a single move. It was his last competitive game for almost 20 years.

Second Spassky Match

In 1992, Fischer emerged for a re-match with Spassky in Yugoslavia. He won the match, taking some $3.5 million in prize money. The U.S. government issued a warrant for his arrest for taking part in the competition, claiming he violated United Nations sanctions against the country. By then, a split in chess authorities meant Kasparov was widely recognized as world champion, although Fischer objected.

Spassky was ``very sorry’’ to hear of former opponent’s death, he told the New York Times from France.

Fischer moved to Iceland in 2005 after publicly criticizing his home country on several occasions and eventually renouncing U.S. citizenship. Though his mother was Jewish, he frequently made anti-Semitic remarks in press interviews.

Fischer was arrested at a Japanese airport in 2004, where he was accused of trying to leave the country on a revoked passport. After considering his deportation to the U.S., the authorities released him to Iceland in 2005 after the country offered him citizenship.

Thursday, January 10, 2008

African Union command officially took control the peacekeeping mission in Darfur.

On December 31, a hybrid United Nations-African Union command officially took control of the peacekeeping mission for Darfur.

But the mission is already in danger of failing. Few new peacekeepers have actually been deployed because of obstructions by the Sudanese regime, and world leaders aren’t providing critical equipment essential to the peacekeepers’ success.

Right now, this peacekeeping mission does not have ANY of the 24 helicopters it needs to protect the people of Darfur.

President Bush must do everything in his power to secure commitments from world leaders.

In a region as vast as Darfur, helicopters are essential for the peacekeeping effort. This effort cannot succeed without helicopters for transport, reconnaissance, and security.

Countries in NATO collectively have 18,000 helicopters, and many other nations have the capacity to contribute as well. But no one has yet contributed any to the U.N.-A.U. peacekeeping mission. World leaders are failing to match their words with actions and are turning away from genocide. Again.

President Bush must further his commitment to Darfur and press other nations to step up to the plate and follow through on their commitments.

President Bashir is rejecting key provisions of the U.N.
peacekeeping resolution - the same resolution his government
“unconditionally accepted” earlier this year. Bashir is now
adding conditions to the peacekeeping mission that would ensure
it will not be effective enough to actually protect civilians.

If we don’t respond forcefully now, the Sudanese government will
continue to try to finish what they’ve started in Darfur. Click
below to urge President Bush to engage his fellow world leaders
and pressure President Bashir to put the peacekeeping mission
back on track.
http://action.savedarfur.org/campaign/stop_bashir/ixxiisk41i5t3n8?

More than 2.5 million lives are hanging in the balance. The
people of Darfur need President Bush and other world leaders to
stand up to the Sudanese government and put a stop to their
deceitful attempts to continue waging violence against their own
people.

Thursday, October 11, 2007

Divest for Darfur National Grassroots Action

There is an important divestment rally coming up in New York City. Join the NYC Coalition to Save Darfur and Brooklyn Parents for Peace and demand that JPMorgan Chase divest from companies that help fund the genocide in Darfur.

The rally, to be held at noon on Monday, October 15, outside JPMorgan Chase headquarters, is part of a National Day of Action. You will join thousands of activists around the country urging the top offending investment firms - including JPMorgan Chase - to divest for Darfur.

The National Divest for Darfur Day of Action was organized to encourage investment firms, especially JP Morgan, Franklin Templeton, Fidelity Investments, Capital Group (American Funds), and Vanguard, to withdraw investments from companies that help fund genocide in Darfur. Millions of Americans have their retirement funds invested through these firms and are inadvertently investing in genocide. The goal of divestment is to put economic pressure on the Sudanese government to end the violence.